No shame in one night stands, watchdog rules

Women should not feel ashamed about one night stands, the UK's advertising watchdog has said is response to complaints about Harvey Nichols' Walk Of Shame video.

21 March 2012

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In a ruling that suggests that society no longer judges women who have casual sex, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that a Harvey Nichols advert showing women doing the so-called 'walk of shame' the morning after a night out was "unlikely to cause serious of widespread offence".

'Walk of shame' is slang for people's journey home after a one night stand.

The department store's advert, which aired on the YouTube website in December, showed nine women in party dresses walking home at dawn after a night out.

Eight women were depicted in skimpy dresses looking dishevelled and embarrassed, and one of them wore ripped tights. The strapline 'Avoid the Walk of Shame this Season' then appeared, followed by a shot of a well-dressed woman - apparently a Harvey Nichols customer - returning home at dawn looking confident.

Four viewers complained that the advert - which was set to the song 'Morning has Broken' - was offensive because it reinforced negative stereotypes of women, and in particular those who chose to have casual sex. They also said that it was demeaning to women, while one viewer said that the ripped tights "implied sexual violence".

Complainants also said that the advert suggested that lower class women who had one night stands should feel shame, while more wealthy women who behaved in the same way - such as the woman at the end of the advert - should feel proud.

However the ASA ruled that the advert did not cause harm or offence and was not socially irresponsible.

It dismissed Harvey Nichols' claim that the women in the adverts had not necessarily had one night stands. The ASA said that by referencing the 'walk of shame' the "implication" of the advert "was that the women had had casual sex the previous night".

However it said that because the women appeared both uncomfortable and confident over the course of the advert, it "did not reinforce negative stereotypes of women generally or women who chose to have casual sex in particular".

The ASA also dismissed the "sexual violence" accusation, saying that ripped tights "were common in everyday situations". It said that the locations and situations depicted did "not necessarily suggest" that the women depicted belonged to a "specific social class".

"We acknowledged that some people might find the theme of the ad distasteful, but we concluded that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," the ASA said.

In its response to the complaints, Harvey Nichols said that it was "sorry" to hear that the advert had offended viewers.

It said that the intention of the advert was to "raise a smile by reminding people of a familiar hazard of the Christmas party season - of waking up somewhere unfamiliar the day after a night out and having to embark on the journey home that was less than suitable for the morning rush hour".

It said that the advert was intended to convey that women did "not have any reason to be ashamed".

The department store retailer said the point of the advert was to highlight the fact that society tended to be judgemental and "playfully" suggest that a women's choice of outfit could go some way to offsetting that tendency.

According to the ASA, Harvey Nichols said that its intention "was to show that women could also do the 'stride of pride', which was how men were popularly referred to in the same situation".